Soyfood Consumption in Breast Cancer Survivors: Don't Overstate the Facts!

摘要

Soyfoods are consumed by many because of cultural factors, for potential beneficial effects on overall health, and for the unproven hope that they will ease menopausal symptoms in women. [1] As Messina and colleagues nicely note in their article, over the last couple of decades the pendulum has swung back and forth concerning the effect of soy on breast cancer risk. In the 1980s, soy products were on the National Cancer Institute's list of potential chemoprevention agents, based largely on the lower incidence of breast cancer in populations in the Far East, populations well known to consume more soy products than do Western populations. Subsequently, however, soy products generated breast cancer-related fear, based on cell culture and xenograft data; this information is also nicely reviewed by Messina et al. The authors additionally note that, in the recent past, many patients with a new diagnosis of breast cancer decreased or eliminated their consumption of phytoestrogen-containing soyfoods. This change is based, presumably at least in part, on healthcare provider recommendations.